Hi. Recently I purchased a used SV80S (LOMO 80/480 optical group) that suffers from a flaccid dew shade. That is, whatever is used to keep the dew shade properly extended during use has lost its Mojo. Apparently this is a common defect of these scopes.

For those of you who have had a Stellarvue scope with this affliction, how have you corrected it? What is the "little blue pill" equivalent for addressing this symptom. If you could walk me through the fix, I'd be greatly obliged.

When their scopes are new Stellarvue suplied spare strips of felt to replace the worn stuff that is original, its a matter of holding the collar on the rear of the dew shield and unscrewing the dewshield itself, being carefull not to unscrew the lens cell at the same time,carefully remove the dew shield and the offending strips of sticky backed felt will be reveiled. Put the new stuff on top on top of the original and ease the dew shield back on without curling back the new felt,I found the procedure a tad fiddly and uses a thin flat edged screwdriver to help. Sticky backed felt can be found at the local craft shop of give Stellarvue a ring, they should be able to send you some, a far simpler way is to just use a rubber band behind the dew shield to stop it dropping down when elevated, good luck,DA.

Have SV send you a piece of their sticky-back black flocking material. The LOMO objective cell has this material wrapped around it to make a tight friction fit against the inside of the dew shield.

Unscrew the dew shield from the retaining ring, cut a few small pieces and attach them on top of the existing material, evenly spaced around the lens cell radially. You'll have to experiment a bit; it doesn't take a lot of material to do the job.

When you've added the right amount, the dew shield will fit nice and tight again.

I'll do that on an interim basis. I do want to "restore" the scope to its original functionality though at some point, though. I'm planning on using it for an article I'm working on, and want it to look pretty in the pictures.

I've also asked Starlight for a quote on a replacement clamping screw for the bent one. Little by little I'll get the scope back in fighting trim.

One other thing to check on your scope... The SV8S0's (at least the ones with the LOMO objectives) have adjustable back plates rather than lens cells. When I bought mine it was off by quite a bit--enough to actually be visible at the eyepiece, and that takes a lot with a refractor. I'd recommend checking your collimation with a nice 2" laser collimator such as a Howie Glatter or a Farpoint. It's an easy adjustment with a good laser and should be relatively permanent. it's definitely worth double checking yours since you know it has been banged around a bit (based on the one bent screw).

I've also asked Starlight about a replacement coarse focus knob as the one on the unit I received has faded to eggplant and plum on its way to gold due to UV exposure (probably set up indoors at a window for extended periods).

What I'd really rather do is have Stellarvue just port my optics to one of the new OTAs in white with the 2.5" focuser, and call it a day. I can repair the FT and part it out to recoup part of the costs of my misadventure on the used scope that wasn't what it was held out to be condition-wise.

The "droop" is fixed. I used negative, adhesive Velcro strips (3 of them) and it works pretty well.

I also installed the replacement hardware from Starlight, and that, too, is perfect.

Sadly, in the oblique lighting coming into my shed across my workbench, what I thought was just a scratch in the tube paint turned out to be an actual dent in the tube. By reconstructing the packing (I save everything) I could piee together how it happened. The seller packed the clamshell loose in the box and wrapped the OTA with a a layer of bubble wrap. At some point in the juggling process by the shipper, the post on the clamshell was jammed hard against the tube, denting it through the layer of bubble wrap. The radius and position of the dent fit the clamshell post radius and orientation perfectly.

Sadly, this little scope will never achieve "very good" condition status through restoration as I'd hoped. Other quibbles uncovered in the servicing include the paint job. Stardust blue is lovely, but the paint on the dew shade and paint on the tube don't match. When I applied acrylic polish to the tube and dew shade, I discovered why. The dew shade is not clear coated. The tube is. This leads to different paint fading rates for the two components.

I should have my Desert Sky Astro mounts in a couple-few weeks, so first light for this tired little SV80S will wait for the DSV-1. It will never be worth much on resale beyond the optics value as the tube has some manufacturing/design and handling/wear issues, but hopefully it will perform as well as other 80mm LOMO optics I've seen.

Assuming it passes first light muster, I'll look for a case for it. Any suggestions for a padded soft case for the SV80S?

Might be worth it to get a quote from Stellarvue for an entirely new tube in your choice of color. Could be less then $300, but I'm just guessing. Months ago I asked someone at Stellarvue for a replacement tube for a 4", but Vic was on holiday so I was told to call back in a week, but I never did. I was also told that Vic had "lots of tubes lying around".